By SOME years back, I was working in a private secondary school as a teacher. Apart from being a subject teacher, I was also a class teacher and it was my custom to watch out for the students in my class then.
There was this student in my class who was always coming late to school; on many occasions, he would miss the first period which was either Mathematics or English. I was bothered and I reported him to the principal on many occasions but there was no improvement.
The boy had a brother and both of them were always coming late to school. Eventually, I knew they were coming with the proprietress.
At the end of the term, as a class teacher, I had to write my comments on my students’ report cards. For me, the class teacher’s comment was a special thing, I tried to make it a special message from me to the parents; each child’s comment was customized based on the child’s attitude or need.
So, my comment on this particular student’s report card was that he was always coming late to school.
The following term, the proprietress called me into her office. I got a query for telling the truth! The proprietress was angry with me and she told me I was working against her.
This was what happened, according to the proprietress. The parents of these children were paying for their children’s transportation; they were supposed to be following the school bus. Since they were living en route to the proprietress’ house, she would bring them to school but this had to be at her convenience. Hence, the children came late many times.
When the mother of the children read my comments, she was angry and refused to pay for her children’s transportation for that term. This angered the proprietress.
The proprietress expected me to cover up for her; she believed I was working against her by telling the truth. She said to me pointedly, ‘Whoever is not for me is against me.’
Over the years, I have come to realise that many private school owners are after the gain they will make. Some do not care about the lives of the children put in their care and some that started well lost focus on the way.
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